Croda, Inc.

On August 24, 2018, an employee was bleeding out a line carrying cetyl 16-18 fatty alcohol. The material was frozen in the line; when the employee opened the bleeder valve, the hose blew off and struck him in the face. He suffered fractures of the hard palate and nasal spine and a lacerated gumline that required stitches.

An employee was performing maintenance on and cleaning a conveyor that moves powders up to a reactor when he noticed powder coming out of an elbow on the conveyor's powder tube. As he was checking the powder's consistency, his right index finger pushed through the powder and was caught in the conveyor's belt linkage, amputating his fingertip.

An employee connected a steam line to a hose to clean equipment when the fitting broke loose. They were struck by steam in the left inner thigh, resulting in burns that required hospitalization.

An employee was straining hot water from a pot of rice when the water splashed onto them, resulting in burns to their chest, arms, shoulder, and back.

An employee was making tea when she noticed tea grinds were collecting on the side and water was no longer dripping through the funnel. The employee was checking the funnel when boiling water and tea grinds spilled onto the left side of her body. The employee sustained burns to her neck, back, and arm.

An employee had turned off the ball valve on a waterpipe system and was removing the plug when the coupling system attached to the strainer came apart. Hot water sprayed on his arm and back, resulting in first- and second-degree burns that required surgery.

An employee was using a shovel to remove waste vermiculite from molten zinc. The metal had been placed in a bin and partially hardened. The employee broke through the partially hardened metal; still-molten metal flowed to the employee's steel-toed right boot and entered through the cloth boot tongue. The employee suffered a third-degree burn to the right foot and was hospitalized.

Two employees were lifting a roll of steel poly bar (50 inches and approximately 150 pounds) from ground level to a height of 4 feet at the 66-inch rubber calendar. One employee dropped the roll, resulting in the poly bar contacting the injured employee's right knee. The employee was hospitalized with fractured right patella.

Employees were loading a 295-pound transformer onto a pickup truck using a forklift. The injured employee was acting as the spotter. The transformer hit the tailgate of the pickup truck and the spotter's right hand was struck by the transformer, resulting in amputation of the ring fingertip.

An employee was wearing full PPE while emptying a 55-gallon drum of phosphorus pentoxide and fainted, collapsing and striking their head against the ground. The employee was hospitalized and it is likely that heat caused by wearing full body PPE contributed to fainting.

An employee was troubleshooting a plug in the super-absorbent polymer line. The employee opened an inspection port and their right hand was caught in a rotary valve, resulting in the amputation of four fingers between the knuckle and the first joint.

An employee was conducting a quality control measure by taking a chemical sample for lab analysis. When the employee was opening the sample point, it broke off and crude 2-Ethylhexyl thioglycolate (EHTG) shot out at 265 degrees, and it covered the employee's legs and right arm and splashed the right side of their face. The employee was hospitalized with first- and second-degree burns to their right thigh, lower right knee, inner left thigh, and upper left forearm.

A flagger was directing traffic flow in a highway work zone. They were standing approximately 1.5 feet behind the shoulder's demarcating line, next to and slightly behind a traffic drum. As they were directing traffic into and out of the driveway of a parking lot, a car attempted to get around a truck and struck the traffic drum, which subsequently struck the employee, who was thrown 15 feet and landed on top of concrete aggregate. The employee suffered pelvic and rib fractures, T10 and L3 vertebra fractures, and internal bleeding.

An employee was troubleshooting a power washer in the field. Because there might have been water in its fuel, he brought it back to the shop and drained about a gallon of fuel from the tank into a plastic container. Some of the fuel spilled onto the floor and ignited. The employee was stomping out the fire when he lost his balance and tripped into a stool, which caused the plastic container to spill more fuel onto the fire. The employee's pants and shirt caught on fire, and he fell, abrading his knee while trying to get through the flames. As well as the knee abrasion, he suffered burns to the left leg and left lower quadrant of the torso. He was hospitalized.

An employee was backing up a tram (towing powered industrial equipment) to connect it to a trash bin. The employee's left forearm/wrist was caught and crushed between the tram and the bin. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee went to lift a carton and tripped on a different carton that was on the floor. She fell on the floor in the backroom and sustained a fractured right hip, and abrasions to her arm and knee. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.

An employee was conducting a delivery of beverage products and began having cramps due to dehydration. The employee was hospitalized.